The Count's Game
by Adele Starminster
Summary: Lily, Annie, Lyra, and Sherlock Holmes must team up to win a game designed by a lunatic with a taste for- blood. The stakes? The lives of every woman in Tortall
1. Comings

A/N: New Story! Yay!  
  
Disclaimer: I own only Annie. Bram Stoker owns the Count. Tamora Pierce owns her stuff, the Doyle Estate owns Holmes, Philip Pullman owns Lyra and Pan, and Lily belongs to Kate Klise. I think that's all.  
  
The worlds are divided by a thin barrier known as The Abyss.  
  
Occasionally the barrier is breached. But these occasions are rare, and for good reason, for the effects are dramatic.  
  
Lyra and Pan  
  
"Lyra, remind me why you are doing this to us?" the thirteen year old blonde's dÇ½mon, a pine marten, asked.  
  
"I think it will open a door like the angels to Will's world," Lyra explained. As she added drops to the substance, they shimmered and vanished.  
  
Sherlock Holmes  
  
Sherlock Holmes, consulting detective, added a silvery liquid to the substance. He was very focused, so focused he didn't realized he vanished.  
  
Lily  
  
Twelve year old Lily Watson groaned. Her teacher Mr. S. Holmes, had asked for a creative writing novel.  
  
"Grr..." Lily growled.  
  
Lily swayed, feeling ill. She fell off her bed and never hit the floor.  
  
Annie  
  
"Oh, little orphan Annie!" The blonde girl called mockingly.  
  
"Shut UP!" Thirteen year old Annie yelled. Her frizzy, fly away hair, bound in a ponytail, trembled as much as the girl. Her brown eyes scanned the area. She ducked as the girl, Marlena, threw a punch. She KNEW Marlena was picking a fight. As she jumped up, her world rippled and vanished.  
  
All  
  
"Where am I?" Lily asked dazedly.  
  
"How am I supposed to know?" Annie shot back.  
  
"Does anyone know?" Holmes asked.  
  
"We don't," Lyra said.  
  
Annie blinked. "Well, maybe we should all introduce ourselves. My names Anna Hathway, but call me Annie."  
  
"Lily Watson"  
  
"Sherlock Holmes"  
  
"Lyra"  
  
"Pan"  
  
"Shall we see where we are?" Holmes asked. The girls looked at each other and said,  
  
"Sure"  
  
"Fine"  
  
"Yes" 


	2. Vampires

A/N: The second chapter of The Count's Game. Now, this is going to be like a game, so here are the players so far for the second game:  
  
Annie Lily Watson Lyra and Pan Sherlock Holmes  
  
These are the original players of the first game: Lucy Westenra Dr. Seward Quincey Morris Arthur Holmwood Jonathan Harker Mina Harker Professor Van Helsing The Count  
  
Disclaimer: I own only Annie. Bram Stoker owns the Count. Tamora Pierce owns her stuff, the Doyle Estate owns Holmes, Philip Pullman owns Lyra and Pan, and Lily belongs to Kate Klise. I think that's all.  
  
Lily  
  
Cripes! Where are we? I have a really bad feeling about this. But we need to know where we are. I walk up to a man.  
  
"Excuse me, sir?"  
  
"Yes, miss?"  
  
"Where are we?"  
  
"The hospital wing of the Royal Palace." He walked off.  
  
"Did any of you know what he was saying?" I asked the rest.  
  
"Nope, " Annie replied.  
  
"I'm afraid not," Holmes added.  
  
"No," Lyra said quietly.  
  
"I demand to know what's wrong with my wife!" It was a male voice.  
  
"The exact nature of the disease is unknown, sir," A woman replied.  
  
"If I pulled a CHILD off the street, I bet it would know what it is!" The man yelled. He barreled out a door and grabbed Annie. He yanked her in. "You girl, look at my wife and tell me if you know what is wrong with her." Annie gulped.  
  
Annie  
  
The woman, a blonde, was pale. Not naturally pale. Bags were under her eyes, and her pulse was faint. Glancing at her neck, I blinked. There was a pair of holes in her neck. They were ragged and white with a red center. No way! Impossible, completely impossible. Steeling myself, I checked her gums. They were pale, and were pulling away from rather pointy teeth.  
  
"This. Cannot. Be. Happening." I breathed. It was not real, they didn't exist. But time traveling and Sherlock Holmes were considered fake.  
  
"What?" said the furious man.  
  
"Vampires aren't real, they can't be real."  
  
Holmes  
  
The girl was right, Vampires don't exist. They were a myth, a story. But why was she so terrified? Surely she did not believe they were real. The ill woman suddenly recoiled painfully.  
  
"No way..." It was Miss Watson. A red burn mark was on the lady's arm where Miss Hathway's silver bracelet brushed it.  
  
"What did you do to her?" Than man rounded on Miss Hathway. The girl Lyra and her pet tried to stop him.  
  
"It just confirms my theory. Your wife is the victim of a vampire."  
  
It was the closest I've ever come to fainting dead away.  
  
Lyra  
  
"How do I stop this thing!"  
  
Annie took a deep breath. "Well, for starters, she needs blood, and there must be garlic and silver on every crack of this room. But the only way to truly end it is to find the vampire, cut off its head and drive a stake in its heart. Did I forget anything?" She opened a book covered in coarse brown paper from her knapsack and flipped through it. "Oh, yeah, stuff garlic in its mouth."  
  
"How do you know all this?" The woman said sharply.  
  
"English class."  
  
"What?"  
  
"You know, spelling, grammar, all that fun stuff? What country are we in, anyways?"  
  
"Tortall, of course"  
  
"Any of you guys heard of it?" Lily asked. When everyone, including me and Pan, shook our heads, she said, "Sorry, never heard of it. You see, the funniest thing just happened and we poofed into another world just now, so we're kind of lost. Do you know anyone who can maybe help us?"  
  
"The mage Numair Salmalin might. I'll get a servant to show you the way."  
  
A/N: Alright, the original player's roles will be filled by the new players. To help you out, I'll make you a chart. Lucy Westenra -Blonde woman Dr. Seward -Lyra and Lily Quincey Morris- Unknown Arthur Holmwood- mad guy, then Holmes (Don't ask) Jonathan Harker- unknown Mina Harker - unknown Professor Van Helsing- Annie (yes, Annie IS thirteen and a GIRL!) The Count- unknown  
  
Who will play Mina? Will the count win? Or will it go like the first game? Or will something change? (Hope it does! Quincey dies at the end, and I'm planning for it to be...  
  
Cliffy. Don't kill me! Or I'll make her die! Hint: it IS a she. 


	3. Meetings and Bats

A/N: New chapter! Yay! I want five reviews before I update, though. OK? Thanx a lot.  
  
Annie  
  
The woman led us to a door with a brass nameplate with two names on it, knocked, and fled. I puzzled over her behavior until the door was opened. The man was tall with dark hair and eyes.  
  
"Who are you?" I sighed. Did we stick out that much?  
  
"My name's Lily, that's Annie, there's Lyra, and that's Sherlock Holmes."  
  
"Why are you here?"  
  
"Do you want the long or short version?" I asked.  
  
"Long version, but come in first."  
  
Lily  
  
"- and that's what happened!" Annie finished. I looked up from my watch.  
  
"That took all of two hours," I grinned.  
  
"Do you have proof this happened?" The man, who had been introduced as Numair, asked.  
  
"Well, my Gameboy is right here," Annie said. "What's a game boy?"  
  
"A thing you play on," Annie answered. She took it out and showed it to him. "See?"  
  
"Fascinating."  
  
I checked my watch. "Cripes! It's eleven! Where did the time go?"  
  
"Well, it was 8:10 PM when we got here, we wandered for twenty minutes, we spent twenty minutes in one place, walked here for ten minutes, and spent two hours talking," Lyra explained.  
  
"It was a rhetorical question," I said.  
  
Holmes  
  
"I'll have to get you somewhere to sleep," Mr. Salmalin said. I thought carefully. Maybe I could think of a way to get home soon.  
  
"Thank you very much," I said. I was very tired, so tired I didn't notice the large red eyed bat that had caught Miss Hathway's eyes.  
  
Lyra  
  
Annie was staring at something. I looked around. A huge black bat with red eyes was hiding in a corner. I was confused. Bats, I knew from experience, hated lots of light. It was very bright. I noticed as its mouth opened there were needle sharp fangs.  
  
I won't sleep well tonight. Pan has to hide so no one notices, I know that. But what if that is the vampire? He's looking at me, no, behind me, now. He looked at Annie furiously, but he was looking behind me... hungrily. I moved my head.  
  
A girl about sixteen, with curly brown hair and blue-gray eyes was looking at the bat curiously.  
  
A/N: Uh-oh, we got a Mina. Here's the chart:  
  
Lucy Westenra -Blonde woman  
  
Dr. Seward -Lyra and Lily  
  
Quincey Morris- Unknown  
  
Arthur Holmwood- mad guy, then Holmes (Don't ask)  
  
Jonathan Harker- Numair (It's called putting 2 and 2 together and getting four)  
  
Mina Harker - Daine  
  
Professor Van Helsing- Annie (yes, Annie IS thirteen and a GIRL!)  
  
The Count- unknown  
  
This is a game to the Count, and few games are identical... 


End file.
